Wanting security comes up a lot with my coaching clients. We think that we trade security for uncertainty if we dare to pivot our careers.
But think about it, : Nothing is secure at face value. You could lose your job tomorrow. Be replaced by AI in a year. I don't want to scare you writing this, but give you food for thought.
First, financial stability matters, of course. Look at your finances and ensure you can afford what you want to do. But most often, you're more financially stable than you think. And on the flipside: you need less money than you think. That persistent “I won’t have enough money” traps us.
Second, you're seeking security in wanting to know how it will turn out. Wanting to know what the chances are that you'll succeed in your new career. It feels high risk because you don't know. And what you know right now is secure. So you think, and think, and think .. and never jump to pivot careers.
Deepak Chopra so beautifully writes: "The search for security is an illusion. In ancient wisdom traditions, the solution to this whole dilemma lies in the wisdom of insecurity, or the wisdom of uncertainty.
This means that the search for security and certainty is an attachment to the known. And what’s the known? The known is our past. The known is nothing other than the prison of past conditioning. There’s no evolution in that — absolutely none at all. And when there is no evolution, there is stagnation, entropy, disorder, and decay.
Uncertainty, on the other hand, is the fertile ground of pure creativity and freedom. The unknown is the field of all possibilities, ever fresh, ever new, always open to the creation of new manifestations. Without uncertainty and the unknown, life is just the stale repetition of outworn memories."
When I read that for the first time, I was blown away.
Since starting this business, how often have I set at my desk wishing for security? Certainty of my schedule. Security of income. Certainty of action X leading to result Y.
But equally, if I had all of that certainty, where would a new version of me be able to emerge? Feeling energised after every coaching session. Embody a new way of working, and living. Where would I have found such joy in work activities (like writing) that I never thought possible?
Uncertainty is a blessing.
It's the space where a new version of you can emerge.
It's the space where new ideas and new paths can form.
Ok, yes, it's not easy to hold the space of uncertainty in practice. I know the rollercoaster too, you know! Hence, why I coach global professionals to navigate these terrains of uncertainty and the unknown.
When you have clarity, confidence and trust lots of things can happen!
So let me ask you:
What could be possible if you dip your little career toe into the cold waters that are uncertain?